I had a pretty nutty week actually, which culminated in a secret assignation outside the Tate Modern where I met a lovely young American lady. You see, I needed a new frock (no, Mr HenHouse, of course I didn't have anything suitable in my wardrobe already) and I knew that finally, here was my chance to wear one of those splendid vintage lace and satin numbers from the '50s that I see at fairs but never have a reason to buy. The dress duly tracked down on Etsy, Jenny offered to hand deliver the dress as she was coming to London. Phew, that was one less thing to worry about. I was absolutely thrilled with the dress, it only cost me £50 and it fit like a dream (miracle when you are not an off the peg size 10!) I would show it to you but I do so hate photos of myself so I'm afraid this is the best you get!
As luck would have it, the wedding was in Chelsea so an easy trip for us with the promise of our own cosy bed for the night later on. It was a freeezing cold day but dry and bright at least, and as the bride in question is Russian, we did allow ourselves a few quips that she is presumably used to cold weather!
I loved the wedding transport.
Afterwards, we walked briskly up the Kings Road to the reception (past Cath K, Brora and Marilyn Moore, this was not sensible planning!) where a treat of an evening awaited us at the swish Bluebird.
There were some interesting touches here and there to reflect the bride's heritage. Her mother had cooked a round loaf of bread, presented on a platter with a long cloth and a bowl of salt. The tradition goes that the bride and groom each takes a bite and whomever takes the largest bite shall wear the trousers in the marriage, so to speak!
Not forgetting the real Russian vodka of course, drunk neat and quite delicious actually, but it didn't have quite so delicious an effect on my head the next morning!
It was a lovely evening and the lucky couple are now sunning themselves in the Maldives. Jealous, moi?
Anyway, talking of lurrve, you haven't forgotten that the day of romance is nearly upon us? Yes, the 14 February is obviously not far away, for any of you love birds out there who like to mark St. Valentine's Day.
I half-inched those lovely flowers from the table at the wedding. I did have permission, honest.
Now on to other business, as they say. A little while ago, I was the recipient of a jolly delightful parcel courtesy of the Lovely Ellie of Jelly Jam. You see she was taking part in a "carry it forward" and as such, offered some frankly rather yummy goodies up on her blog. And what do you know, the lucky winner just happened to be yours truly! So now it's my turn. As Ellie had had a Wintery theme to her C-I-F (you can see what Ellie sent me here), I decided to go all out for lurrrve. So, the idea is that I now carry forward the crafty love by offering up some goodies to another kindred spirit who shall in turn be prepared to do the same.
The theme really started because I wanted to have a go at making a cute heart-shaped pot holder I had seen on Pinterest. Despite the air turning decidedly blue whilst trying to sew on the bias binding neatly, it's turned out pretty cute, me thinks.
(Hen, you didn't spend all morning faffing round with pretty cups and teaspoons and stuff, did you? No, no, of course not... splutter!)
Just in case you're wondering what on earth you do with the thing (rather than hang it up and gaze upon it fondly), you can slip your little fingers in and pick up your pots and pans whilst protecting your hand. Get it?
Carrying on the heart theme, well there had to a good old hanging heart stuffed with scrummy fragrant lavender, made using the crazy patchwork technique with vintage fabrics, bits of lace and so on.
Now, what might you find yourself doing lots of around St. Valentine's Day? Well, if you're lucky, lucky, lucky you might be anyway, and if so, you'll want to have nice soft smackers, won't you? So when I saw these cute vintage-styled lip balms, I thought that'd be perfect.
To top it all off, I felt there had to be something edible involved and when I saw some good old Love Hearts, I thought that would be the finishing touch, especially as when you've snaffled them all away, you're left with a cute pin tin.
So, here's my "craft-it/carry-it-forward" offering.
So here's the deal. In order to take part, you need to be resident in the UK. Sorry to exclude overseas friends but postage is eye watering these days and this little lot is a bit heavy. (I'll have a giveaway in future open to absolutely all, so don't you worry.)
You also need to actively write a blog of your own. This is because you need to be able to let the world at large know about your own C-I-F, don't you?
Obviously, you need to be prepared to craft and/or or buy a few goodies to send the lurrve onto someone new. Clear as mud?
Annnnnnddddd... because I am a tardy old thing, I am actually offering another lot of goodies, a second C-I-F, as I took part in another of these jolly affairs a while back and am now rolling the two into one. So, if your name comes out first, you'll be getting that pretty red package up there, but fear ye not as the second name is a winner here, too. Here's hoping you like pink...
Because the second lot of goodies is decidedly rosy!
I'll draw the winners in about a week so that there's time to get your package out to you by St. Valentine's Day. I'll leave a note on this post to say when the comments are closed. Phew. Comment away, do, dear readers...
Toodle pip!
P.S.: if you leave me a comment, thank you kindly, please make it clear whether you wish to be included in the C-I-F. I will assume you do unless you tell me otherwise.
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